Along the same lines, where I used to work we had some n00bs (one really) that would su, do his or her work, and then leave the lab, completely forgetting the exit part. On any given day, you could walk in the lab and see root prompts up on at least half the boxes.

There are a hundred things wrong with this scenario. I know. That's why I quit. I don't need to hear them all. Mind the forest, not the trees.

Yes yes, +1. I really dug how Flynn wanted to make a perfect, open, free system for everyone, and the evil capitalists took it and over-charged for it. Pretty cool message for a Hollywood film. Even referenced that the only difference between releases was the release number. I was half-expecting that the Encom was the reason Flynn went missing, that some corporate henchman trapped him in the machine.

And every computer shown in the movie was Unix based...
% whoami
flynn

Thankfully, I can think of nothing else that will get the average American more in a tiff than their chosen source of entertainment suddenly not working.

Don't mention gay marriage or legalizing pot. I may be slightly off topic here, but only/.ers and the like will know who to blame, and why to be mad. And that's not the average American. We're lucky if we make up 5%.

If only we could become the archetypal American, Joe the IT guy, as opposed to Joe the plumber.

An anonymous reader writes: After a long period of work and testing, the UPR team has released thefinal version of Ubuntu Privacy Remix 10.04 (Codename Locked Lynx). Andyes, we know Ubuntu 10.10 has just been released. But we believestability is more important for UPR, so we are focusing on LTS releaseswhenever possible.

What is Ubuntu Privacy Remix?

The goal of Ubuntu Privacy Remix is to provide an isolated workingenvironment where sensitive data can be dealt with safely. The systeminstalled on the computer running UPR remains untouched, UPR is notintended for permanent installation on hard disk. Instead of that thesealed-off Ubuntu Privacy Remix system runs from a modified Live-CDbased on Ubuntu Linux. All user data reside exclusively on encryptedremovable media.Ubuntu Privacy Remix is a tool to protect your data against unsolicitedaccess. The risk of theft of such private data arises not only from"conventional" criminals, trojans. rootkits, keyloggers etc. In manycountries, measures are taken by the state aiming at spying andmonitoring its citizens.Learn more about it at https://privacy-cd.org/

What is new in UPR 10.04?Ubuntu Privacy Remix 10.04 is based on Ubuntu 10.04 "Lucid Lynx" andsupports more and newer hardware. Still, system requirements remain thesame. The UPR kernel has been rebuilt based on the Ubuntu kernel2.6.32.23. UPR 10.04 shows the same improvements to boot times as Ubuntu10.04

With UPR 10.04, it is no longer possible to burn the ISO to a CD due toits size, sorry! The standard UPR 10.04 now includes english, german,spanish, french and italian language.

We have extended and improved the following features:

* TrueCrypt has been updated to version 6.3a. Version 7.0 obviouslyhas introduced changes to the container format, at least containerscreated with it cannot be opened with an earlier version. Unfortunately,we found no documentation about these changes, so we will use 6.3a untilwe have done a full review of Truecrypt 7 on our own.
* We have written our own frontend to GnuPG, which replacesseahorse. With it, you can use GPG features like key groups or restoringoriginal filenames. Use it like the seahorse plugins from the contextmenu (Encrypt, Sign). Settings can be made from "Applications — Security- GnuPG Settings". It is also possible to show all recipient keys of anencrypted file. This frontend is optimized for dealing with largekeyrings (>300 keys), key lists can be searched and filtered. Forpassword caching, the "normal" gpg-agent is used, which has fewer bugsthan seahorse. For key management, seahorse is still used.
* The scripts for extended TrueCrypt volumes have been improved. Thebackup feature during close now can backup other open containers aswell. Printer configuration is now saved.
* New applications: VYM Mindmapper, GIMP, xterm (for enablingTrueCrypts "repair filesystem" feature)
* Simple creation and use of LUKS-encrypted volumesLink to Original Source

You're attempting to extend property rights such that they provide privacy. I don't think that works, except in cases of Intellectual Property, wherein the idea itself has monetary value and can therefore be "stolen" simply by being seen. But the only way to legally protect your IP is to disclose it via the patent office, so still no.

I own a car. Yes, I am about to make a car-Facebook analogy. I am very sorry.

If you look at my car, you haven't violated my property rights. If you write down my license plate, you haven't violated my property rights. If, from my bumper stickers and whatnot, you determine that I have a kid named Billy who plays football, a daughter named, Billy, who plays cello, that one of my kids is an honor-roll student (Billy, most likely), that I have a wife, that I most likely voted for Ralph Nader in 2004, and from the make and model of the car ascertain with reasonable certainty which socio-economic bracket I fit, you still have not violated any of my Constitutional Rights. Would it be creepy? Yes. The same is true of gathering info on Facebook, message boards, etc.

However, if you set your privacy settings and they circumvent them, that's totally different, and may fall under DMCA protection, since "You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it is shared through your privacy and application settings." [Facebook terms of use: http://www.facebook.com/terms.php ]

GovTechGuy writes: The FCC issued an order Thursday that should make it much easier and cheaper for consumers to purchase and install third-party cable boxes made by manufacturers such as TiVo. The rules are aimed at spurring competition in the cable box market; currently consumers overwhelmingly choose to rent a box from their cable provider rather than buy their own. Lawmakers have complained the current cable box technology is outdated and doesn't allow consumers to leverage new sources of video content such as the Web or streaming services from providers such as Netflix. The new rules should result in a smarter, more advanced cable box in the near future.Link to Original Source

There's no general right of privacy guaranteed by the Constitution or any other U.S. document. We're generally protected from Search and Seizure. There are only specific privacies guaranteed, such as medical records and school records.

Courts have ruled that there is no expectation of privacy for e-mail. It's not a far stretch to say that covers Facebook and other social networking sites as well. It immediately includes those sites when the user has e-mail notifications enabled.

It's not spying. Maybe information-gathering. We can only call it spying if they're actually playing "I spy."